Fall Prep Previews -- Change at the top for soccer?

YAKIMA -- The girls who have made up the lineup of each West Valley soccer team since 1996 have known only triumph, with a cumulative league record of 138-9-3 and not a single season in which the Rams did not win outright or tie for their league title.

La Salle's recent run has been shorter but no less impressive. The Lightning have reached three straight state championship games and last year outscored foes 121-12.

For both the Lightning and the Rams, though, this year could end that run of sustained excellence.

Or, knowing the two programs and their indefatigable coaches, perhaps it won't.

Ten of his 2007 starters have graduated and six of them are now on college soccer rosters, prompting West Valley coach John Schubert to comment wryly that he and his Rams are "going to learn a few things about humility."

But neither Schubert nor Lightning coach Anne Newell, whose seven seniors last year included two 100-goal career scorers and an all-state goalie, is giving up on the 2008 season.

"A lot of our young players are good; they're kids who have been waiting in the wings to prove themselves," says Schubert, whose roster will be two-thirds full of players without a minute of varsity experience. "These kids grew up in a winning environment, and they're chomping at the bit to keep it going."

Newell is also looking forward to the challenge.

"For me, it's getting back to basics and finding the kids' strengths and working with those strengths, finding where they fit within the team dynamics and system of play," Newell says. "It's getting back to coaching."

Ironically, these two programs, similar in circumstances yet disparate in size -- West Valley in 3A, La Salle in 1A-B -- will open the season against one another on Sept. 6.

"Then," Newell says, sounding exasperated with the schedule-maker, "we turn around and play Highland and then we play Naches (Valley)."

As legitimate SCAC challengers last year, those two teams have the most to gain from the Lightning's graduation talent drain. But Naches Valley coach Ron Gengler, whose Rangers return 10 starters, isn't presuming the Lightning will simply step aside.

"That (2007 La Salle) was a very athletic group," he says. "But Anne's a great coach ... you can't underestimate La Salle no matter who's on the team."

Some teams in the Columbia Basin Big Nine might underestimate Eisenhower, which has reached the state tournament just once (in 1999, losing its first game). But the Cadets went 8-4 in conference play last year with a very young squad, and coach Tyler Suhm expects several players "to have breakout seasons this year." If that happens, Eisenhower could add to its brief state-tournament resumé.

In the CWAC, both East Valley and Selah took some hard graduation hits but might not lose a step -- particularly the Red Devils, whose success may depend on how well three new defensive starters can fill the bill.

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